Correlation of pro-nerve growth factor and GATA binding protein 3 in peripheral blood with severity and cognitive function in patients with Parkinson's disease

Xu Yuanyuan; Xia Hong; Liu Weiguo; Liu Jiajia; Ding Chenchen

doi:10.3760/j.issn.1673-4777.2025.09.011

Abstract：Objective To investigate the correlation of peripheral blood pro-nerve growth factor(proNGF)and GATA binding protein 3(GATA3)with severity and cognitive function in patients with Parkinson's disease(PD).Methods A total of 158 patients with PD(PD group)admitted to the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2020 to March 2023 and 80 healthy volunteers(control group)who had recently visited the hospital for physical examination were retrospectively selected.PD patients were divided into early stage group(Hoehn-Yahr stage 1 to 2.5,32 cases),middle stage group(Hoehn-Yahr stage 3,76 cases)and late stage group(Hoehn-Yahr stage 4 to 5,50 cases)according to the severity of the disease.According to their cognitive function,they were divided into PD dementia(PDD)group[PD cognitive rating scale(PD-CRS)score ≤73,37 cases],PD mild cognitive impairment(PD-MCI)group(PD-CRS score 74 to 80,68 cases)and normal cognitive group(PD-CRS score＞80,53 cases).The levels of proNGF and GATA3 in peripheral blood were detected.The correlation between proNGF and GATA3 levels in peripheral blood of patients with PD and Hoehn-Yahr stage was analyzed.Unconditional ordinal multinomial Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between peripheral blood proNGF and GATA3 levels and the development of cognitive impairment in PD patients.The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to analyze the predictive efficiency of peripheral blood proNGF and GATA3 levels on cognitive impairment.Results The level of proNGF in PD group was higher than that in control group,and the the level of GAT A3 was lower than that in control group(both P＜0.001).The level of proNGF in the late stage group,the middle stage group and the early stage group showed a downward trend,and the level of GATA3 showed an upward trend(all P＜0.001).The Hoehn-Yahr scale was positively correlated with the level of proNGF(r=0.775,P＜0.001)and negatively correlated with the level of GATA3(r=-0.780,P＜0.001)in PD patients.proNGF was an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment in PD patients,and GATA3 was an independent protective factor(all P＜0.001).The area under the curve of peripheral blood proNGF and GATA3 levels combined to evaluate cognitive impairment and PDD in PD patients was 0.873 and 0.868,which was larger than those of peripheral blood proNGF and GAT A3 levels alone(both P＜0.05).Conclusions Elevated levels of proNGF and decreased levels of GAT A3 in peripheral blood of PD patients are closely related to disease severity and cognitive impairment.The combination of proNGF and GATA3 levels in peripheral blood has a high energy efficiency in evaluating cognitive impairment and PDD in PD patients.